When looking at global poverty, women are impacted in greater numbers. UN Women states that “more than 10.3 percent of the world’s women live in extreme poverty,” but with higher investments in gender equality, this could change. And this change would benefit not only women but all of humanity. The sixty-eighth session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68), held from 11–22 March 2024 in New York, addressed these issues with discussions around unpaid care and domestic work, changing gender stereotypes and ending gender-based violence. CSW is the biggest policymaking body dedicated exclusively to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, which impacts how gender is mainstreamed in all other UN processes. Every year, the commission addresses a different theme.

Ivy Koek, Elisa Gazzotti and Yuki Ito of SGI participated in CSW68 and co-organized two parallel events as part of the NGO CSW68 Forum, which took place during the official CSW session. SGI’s event on “Overcoming Poverty: Young Women’s Leadership Through Education” featured stories of young women, research and work on non-formal as well as formal education with the aim of sharing how education—and specifically, human rights education—is being used to overcome poverty and advance gender equality for young women. Co-sponsors for the event included the Permanent Mission of Slovenia, Human Rights Education Associates, Zonta International, the NGO Working Group on Human Rights Education and Learning (NGO WG on HREL) and the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, New York (NGO CSW/NY).

After an opening address by Boštjan Malovr, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Slovenia to the UN, Gazzotti, who serves as Chair of the NGO WG on HREL, spoke about human rights education (HRE), the work in Geneva by the WG and the World Programme on HRE. Organizers also showed the Dalit girl segment of the 2011 film Path to Dignity, which presents three stories illustrating the positive impact of human rights education. Later, they shared that the girl in the film eventually pursued a law degree and was invited by the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) to attend an event in Geneva. Other speakers who shared about their work, research and lived experiences included: Christian Courtis, Gender and Women’s Rights Adviser at OHCHR New York; Ute Scholz, President of Zonta International; Felisa L. Tibbitts, Chair in Human Rights Education in the Department of Law, Economics and Governance at Utrecht University, UNESCO Chair in Human Rights and Higher Education and the Co-Founder of Human Rights Education Associates (HREA); and Hadiqa Bashir, Founder of Girls United for Human Rights and NGO CSW/NY Youth Fellow.

Together with the United Religions Initiative (URI) and the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers, and co-sponsored by Women in International Security (WIIS), SGI also co-organized “Financing Peace for Gender Equality: Advancing the Financing of the 1325 Agenda.” Speakers addressed what new steps need to be taken to effectively finance the UN Security Council 1325 Agenda on Women and Peace and Security, what reforms need to happen to reallocate funds from promoting militarization to women’s empowerment and what peacebuilding and women’s rights organizations and allies can do in the lead up to the 1325 Agenda’s 25th Anniversary in 2025 to hold stakeholders accountable to their commitments.

As NGO CSW/NY Co-Chair, Koek co-moderated civil society briefings at the UN, and co-led the planning of the NGO CSW68 Forum with a total of 765 events in person and virtually, in addition to committee-sponsored events, healing and community spaces, an artisan fair, caucuses and conversation circles, and engagement of over 16,000 individuals on the forum’s virtual platform. Leading up to the forum, the committee organized regular meetings with expert panels to engage global civil society in preparation for CSW. Koek also co-moderated Consultation Day on 10 March 2024, which included a high-level opening and expert panel on “2024: What’s at Stake?” lead by UN Women and a panel of four NGO CSW/NY Youth Fellows.